Wednesday, January 26, 2011

BRAIN POWER

Want to be sharper, faster, more articulate, a better whatever you are -- painter, writer, shopkeeper, teacher, parent, philosopher? Want to be a winner, and excel in every undertaking -- be more skillful, efficient, creative in everything you're trying to do?

I know I'm smarter now than I was ten years ago, but I don't know why.

I used to eat a lot of cottage cheese -- now I eat whatever I feel like -- does that have something to do with why I'm smarter now?

Probably not, though quite a few doctors say the Mediterranean diet helps you think clearer. But is it the olive oil, fish, vegetables, and wine that you eat, or the fact that you don't eat red meat, refined sugars, dairy fat?

The current thought is -- what you eat does not enhance your brain.

At a recent symposium on the subject (the 2010 meeting of the Society for Neuroscience), they discussed neuroplasticity. It's the science of getting the brain to create more neurons and synapses -- because neurons and synapses are what boosts learning memory, reasoning and creativity.

The Society concluded -- take up something very new, like ballroom dancing, or learning a new, foreign language.

They also said that nicotine helps, but the side effects are disastrous. Drugs -- Adderall, Ritalin and caffeine help -- they raise the brain levels of dopamine, (the "juice" that gets you feeling motivated). The drugs enhance the recall of memorized words as well as working memory, but many people get the dopamine benefits by simply believing that they're doing well with whatever it is that they're doing.

Motivation -- that's the key. You learn Italian because you'll want to visit Rome. I feel my brain power doubled from learning how to make films on a Mac computer -- I had to learn -- I wanted videos for my blog.

The Society for Neuroscience says "tricks" work -- learn Face Book, conquer Tweeting, or get interested in your ancestry. The European Journal of Social Psychology advises concentrating on how Grandpa survived the Depression, how Great-Grandma opened a restaurant -- it strengthens your neurons and synapses and gives you self confidence.

Confidence is Adderall without the prescription. Even watching pandas on YouTube helps -- it enhances creative problem-solving by reducing stress. Stress coats neurons with a sheath that impairs signal transmission.

So what's the best thing to do? JUST DO STUFF.

# 1. Do aerobic exercise -- walking 45 minutes a day three times a week, improves episodic memory and executive-control functions by about 20 percent. One of the Society's leading scientists said that a year of exercise can give a 70-year-old the connectivity of a 30-year-old, improving memory, planning, dealing with ambiguity, and multitasking.

# 2. Meditate -- think about a subject, concentrate on it for 5 minutes, three times a day. I meditate when I'm gathering the news about what's happening in the world, and examine how I feel about this or that.

# 3. Video Games -- another learned specialist in the Society tested video games, and concluded that the older adults he taught to play a complex action game called "Space Fortress," increased their neurons and synapses by learning to shoot missiles and destroy the fortress while protecting their spaceship against missiles and mines.

I don't like video games. They make me nervous (therefore stressed, and dumber).

So what are you going to do -- play video games, meditate, or exercise?

You don't need much brain power to know what I'm doing to get smarter. I'm exercising, just by writing this blog.

3 comments:

@Anonymous.."re caffeine-coffee" Don't know for sure but it probably doesn't help an 'OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE' personality. But every thing in moderation and please know there are different 'degrees' of the classification of OBSESSIVE/COMPULSIVE personality behaviors. If you think you are OC get an assessment from a qualified professional. Caffeine can increase your blood pressure, which isn't good. Tea has less caffeine and is probably a healthier drink.Good luck to you in finding an answer..Heather

Was interested in the science that stress coats the neurons with a sheath-like substance. Similar occurence in alzheimers. Wonder if there is a coneetion between stress and that disease. That certainly is a lot more stress in our lives today compared to yesteryear, and seemingly alot more alzheimers/dementia.

HOW I GOT HERE

I started out as a modern dancer, contemporary, but balletic. I didn't want to be a swan, or a barefoot dancer. I wanted to dance to the music that thrilled me as a child, and made me want to be a dancer.

I began writing in the truck my first husband, Mark Ryder and I bought, in order to carry our set, props, and costumes for a long one-night-stands tour -- eighty-eighty performances in eighty-eight cities.

We were performing "Romeo and Juliet" nightly, but our marriage was breaking up. Every day while our stage manager drove us two-hundred miles or so to the next booking, I'd type a detailed description of last night -- what we did well, what we argued about, and a travelogue about the town, and comments from the people at the nightly party.

Recovering from the trip and the divorce, I sent my "car book" to a friend who said -- "Em, it's great,but ..." And that became rewrites, and another book. Then, my marriage to actor John Cullum, and then a play that got produced, and another book, big hopes because a famous agent loved it.The title and concept changed five times -- now it's been published, finally, as "Somebody, Woman of the Century." You can buy it, or read about it and my other five novels on Emily Frankel.com